A&R Transport not what you think

And as far as loading goes and being responsible for that, it's pretty simple. You learn to load your trailer...I suppose like drivers do with pallets.

Most of the time I load of my gauges. You should be able to be pretty darn close to 48k or whatever you need by your gauges. You might have to slam it around to axle out right but that's no big deal. I've not hit a scale to check in a couple years. When I very first started, no one told me too much so I was pretty ignorant. Got popped for being over on my trailer. It will never happen again. That's on me...not anyone in an office somewhere. That truck is my responsibility.

 

I think he was saying that was the value of the load and not the rate

 

Ya I agree with you , I meant what the load was worth, they haul virgin plastic my buddy does what you do and wants me to go work with him , and different plastic loads and unloads different for instance PE is about a 1 to 1.5 hrs to load and unload where other plastic can be longer, I'm very disappointed in the pay I never made more than $700 and on average made $500 I get my terminal played a big part in that as some terminals do get better loads , but for what's involved the pay rates are not what you would expect , I never refused a load and worked #### hard for them !

 

Yes that is what I meant , thank you sir ! Look bottom line is drivers are leaving A&R at record numbers and from what I've been told its all because of the the owner getting out of it , when this man was in control he made #### sure drivers made money but since losing his son and daughter in law almost two years ago he just wants to do what makes him happy , and now that share holders are involved its always the same make cuts and cuts always affect the driver

 

To the OP: now that you have some experience in hauling bulk commodities your opportunities should be good with another company that does that type of work. It's water over the dam now, so look at the pay you received at a&r as training pay. This type of work is challenging - loading at railyards, climbing around on the equipment no matter what the weather is like, unloading into customers silos, I like it. It is more challenging than bumping docks (for me at least). I never could understand why a company driver would accept a different milage pay rate for loaded / empty miles that he/she were dispatched to run. The driver has no control over it. And the pay you earn does not "even out" in the end. Good luck to ya.

 

Yes there is good money in dry bulk. I like hauling it myself and the average unload time is about 90 minutes, some longer, some not as long. As far as pay goes, you are totally right on that. The company I work for used to be a great company to work for, but since the owner retired, it went downhill. The dispatcher only wants to take loads, no matter what it pays the driver. It may be a $175 load that ties up 2 days, but it makes him look good to the manager. Hey boss my truck are running, the only ones that make the 1K gross per week is a group of drivers that kiss hiss ### and he eats that up. Think it's time to move on after 6 years that was mostly good. Sorry for the rant.

 

Not sure what you are complaining about, as most every company holds the driver responsiable for overweight tickets (which is the way it should be) and when you are loading the product yourself, who do you think is responsiable for putting too much into the trailer?????

As for the other complaints, most places hold 2 weeks checks, most places pay differently for loaded and empty miles, and most places pay more for short-haul. It sounds like maybe the job just wasn't right for you is all. Not A&R's fault you didn't like the way they operate. They have ton's of drivers who don't mind it. I have 3 drivers in my hometown who drive for them, and have for 10+ years and do very well. They said they bring home around $1,200 week after taxes and only work Mon-Fri.... so not sure what the problem was, maybe just a bad terminal you were out of??? I think maybe a mega carrier is more the place for you, as you like paid a set rate by the mile and checks starting the 1st week you roll. Unfortunatley, you'll be lucky to see $700 week there and home maybe once every 20 days.... good luck

 

Thank you , yes absolutely I am chalking it up as that and I think I was pretty good at doing this and your right it is challenging but that's why I liked it , Bulkmatic has reached out to me and offered me a yonker , ny to St Albins , Vt run dedicated so I'm calling tmrw to talk about it in more detail , I will tell what to gain the respect of other drivers and the workers at the RR yards I loaded at , sure has given me the confidence to keep up with Dry Bulk , but thank you !

 

Sorry to disagree with you but agree on other stuff , A&R wasn't up front before I started on the paycheck thing I know some places do hold two weeks but its the first time I had that , and sorry but yes overweight is the drivers responsibility but I've worked for just a few companies this bulk stuff was first but for me if I was overweight the company always paid I made sure if I thought I was heavy to go to a TS and get a accurate rate before heading out , but I did say it was the terminal more on the hook for issues but contacting corporate did no good they preached to call but answering those calls is another thing , A&R used to be a great place , I've seen guys that had time in just up and leave , we can disagree but I do agree some guys are in better terminals and will do good but that's not the way it is thru out , but hey I did a great job I can't make such little money and continue , and a mega carrier come on bud did you read what I've been saying or are you management of A& R ?

 

Yep, you pinned me. I'm the head CEO of A&R Transport.... LOL